Rural living has its perks – a safe community lifestyle, spacious lands, fresh air, and low crime rates just to name a few, but to many, one aspect of living remote has been lacking – internet.
If moving from a city or suburb where multiple high-speed Internet options are available, such as DSL, fiber, or cable, it might come as shock to learn that many US towns haven’t been reached with modern day speeds. In a study conducted in 2013, over 9.4 million Americans were still using archaic dial-up as their primary source of Internet.
Are you ready for the downgrade? We didn’t think so.
Thankfully, with advances in technology, there are options available to even the most remote homes.
Satellite Internet
Unlike cable, DSL, dial-up, and fiber internet, Satellite Internet delivers its service from the sky and not through a fixed cable or phone line. Because your Internet comes through a direct beam from your service providers satellite, it's secure and the upload and download speeds generally are the fastest of any rural service.
Satellite Internet does have its drawbacks though. The largest being that plans have data limits, and monitoring how much data you’ve used and have left in your cycle can be a nuisance. If you exceed your data limit your speeds will be “throttled” back, and although you can still use the Internet it will be at 1/10th the speed of normal service.
Currently, there are 2 major satellite Internet providers – Hughesnet and Exede.
For years, both providers have offered very similar plans, but with the launch of Hughesnet’s new satellite, EchoStar XIX in December 2016, HughesNet has surpassed what Exede can deliver. HughesNet has a much larger reach, provides download speeds of 25Mbps in all plans, offers more data, and has the same price points as Exede.
If both options are available at your new home its best to look at the current offerings for both companies, but HughesNet should be the better option.
Mobile Broadband/Mobile Wifi
If you’ve moved to a home with strong cell coverage mobile broadband might be a good option for you.
Running off the same towers as your phone, mobile broadband providers send 3G/4G data directly to a mobile wifi router in your home which provides internet to any wifi enabled device connected to that router. Depending on proximity to your provider's cell tower, you can get speeds of 5 Mbps to 12 Mbps. That should be fast enough to do anything you want to do online.
Like satellite Internet, mobile broadband plans have data limits, and the charge per GB is more than satellite plans.
Your provider options will be limited as they must have a cell tower near you, but some of the leading names are:
Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, H20 Wireless, Sprint, Karma, Consumer Cellular, At&T, Boost Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and NetZero.
Wireless Broadband (WISPs)
Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), are locally operated providers that deliver wireless internet by placing an antenna on your roof and connecting that to a tower that they generally own and operate. Your proximity to the tower and any obstructions that could block your signal will greatly affect your internet speeds, but on the high end, you can get speeds up to 25 Mbps.
Unlike both satellite and mobile broadband, WISPs generally have no data limits which can be a huge advantage. The biggest disadvantage to this service is that you're dealing with small, local-based company that doesn't have the resources of large corporations. In most cases, this won't be an issue, but a small company can get over its head if their major interruptions or damage to the equipment.
A good resource to find if there are any WISPs servicing your new home can be found here.
